I decanted it around noon and had my first glass nine hours later. It has opened up aromatically pretty nicely. It has a rather sweet, S. Rhôney nose but with a touch of lift from the VA. But it seems a bit clean for a Musar (though admittedly I often find young Musar suspiciously clean and then it becomes its delightfully smelly self with a few more years). Quite chewy and full-bodied on the palate but with adequate acidity and moderate grip from the tannins - but it does maybe seem a touch fruit heavy at the moment, though no doubt age will correct this. At this young age it seems more a good than a great Musar but we’ll see in the future. The finish is really refreshing and opens up like that cliché of the peacock’s tail so maybe it will turn into one of the greats. Even if it doesn’t, it’s still a pretty good wine and I’ll be happy to buy several more of these.
I found it to be among the better vintages. Stylistically similar to the good 2010, but showing less overt VA and coming across as more balanced. 2011 was quite good, but lacking any thrill and complexity and feeling a bit heavier. 2012 was just soft, jammy and sweet, not really my kind of thing. To me, 2013 holds the best promise since 2008 and definitely feels like a vintage one should start stocking up.
That’s really nice to hear. I bought some 2010’s but thought the 2008’s really were the last vintage that I was excited about. I’ll have to check in on both the 2011’s & the 2013’s. It’s been too long since I bought a new vintage.
It’s always hard to say this close to release, since Musar tends to be somewhat different upon release compared to the bottles that are already +10 years of vintage - there the wines tend to follow a rather linear trajectory.
However, based on one quick taste, this 2013 seemed very lovely right now and showed great potential for future development, thus being the most interesting vintage since 2008. 2010 was good, but I’ve had quite a bit of bottle variation - some wonderfully lifted, while other getting already a bit unpleasant with almost acetic VA. I guess getting bottles is kind of a gamble with that vintage - well, a bit more than with Musar in general. 
While Musar 2011 was a bit nondescript upon release, it does have enough stuffing for the long haul, so hopefully it will turn out great with patience.
I finished the 2013 today and also opened a 2012 to compare. As much as I appreciate Otto’s views on wine, the 2012 just was more fun, more drinkable, more open. Maybe in 10-15 years things will be different but the 2012 was a thing of beauty today. Sunny fruit, touch of VA, bright acidity. Tasting the 2013 open since yesterday was just mehhh. There was no fun in that wine. Future, yes, but no fun now. The 2013 is drinking an academic exercise (fun though that might be) while the 2012 is just pure pleasure. Hmmm. I didn’t remember 2012 being this enjoyable before but I’m glad I opened it provoked by this thread. 
Will be on the lookout for the 2013s. Last purchases were from the 2008 and 2009 vintages for me, but I haven’t tried either yet. Picked up a number of 2007s at Costco (believe it or not), but haven’t had one of those in about 3.5 years–was just too young, or “clean” for my preference. Hope they develop more of the traditional Musar-ness that I prefer from a couple of the older vintages I’ve had.
Funny how our views differ on this wine we both love so! I myself found the 2012 slightly unbalanced upon release, as it was both noticeably higher in alcohol with a rather prominent streak of sugary sweetness, lending it an almost Ripasso-like quality. In our vertical tasting, that particular vintage felt conspicuously sweet, unlike any other vintage in the tasting.
Of course, it might be that the wine has come a bit better together in this year or so. After all, I’ve tasted the wine only once, very soon after the release. However, based its lush, sweet and excessively sunny overall character, I decided to skip the vintage. While it wasn’t unpleasant in any way and most certainly it will develop into a more positive direction with age, I found 2013 both more enjoyable now and showing better potential for further aging.
I’ve had 2007 now 4 times and every time it has felt an underachiever. Upon release, it was all over the place, coming across as unpleasantly bitter and slightly off. Now it has been just surprisingly evolved for its age with a rather soft structure. To me, this has been the most disappointing Musar vintage for the past 10 vintages. The only positive thing here is that it still seems to be on an upward trajectory - the first time I tasted it, I scored it 86; the last time I tasted it, it was already an 88-pointer. However, I’ve found it lagging badly behind the surrounding vintages in quality.